In a best-of-three series, Game 1 is very important due to its shortness.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who were doing really well at the end of the AHL regular season, suffered a big blow when they lost the first game of the playoffs to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Because they lost 2-1 to the sixth-seeded Phantoms on Wednesday night, the third-seeded Penguins now have to win two games in a row, with the first one being an away game, in order to keep playing beyond the weekend.
To advance to the Atlantic Division semifinals in the Calder Cup playoffs, the Penguins must win on Friday night in Allentown and then win a game back at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday.
Although the Penguins started the game well, they struggled during a long period starting in the middle of the first period, falling behind 2-0 and facing the risk of falling even further behind in the second period.
In the first 36 minutes of the game, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms outshot the Penguins 22-11, and overall they outshot them 32-22.
Ville Koivunen, who was playing his first game with the team as part of the playoffs, scored the only goal for the Penguins with 1:44 left in the second period.
The game was more evenly matched during long periods of the third period, but the Penguins continued to be at risk.
During the third period, Lehigh Valley's Bobby Brink almost scored, hitting the post exactly halfway through the period, and the Penguins had to make desperate plays to prevent a potential empty-net goal in the 1:59 that Joel Blomqvist was pulled from the goal. They ended the game playing with fewer players for the final 30.8 seconds due to one of those plays.
At 14:37, Aiden Brooks scored the first goal by getting his shot past Blomqvist and the goal line, requiring a video review to confirm the goal.
Rhett Gardner scored to put the Phantoms up by two goals at 1:35 of the second period by converting a rebound from in front.
In the second period, Sam Poulin moved the puck to the front of the net from the left corner near the goal line.
Koivunen's deflection stayed in the air, and Phantoms goalie Cal Petersen couldn't stop it.
Koivunen, who was selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes and acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, made an impact by scoring a goal. He played for Oulun Karpat in the Finnish Liga, achieving impressive stats in the regular season and playoffs. He was a significant player for his team after Christmas.
This is Koivunen's second time playing in the AHL, as he scored a goal in 12 games for the Chicago Wolves in the previous season.
NOTES
The game had a paid attendance of 4,181. Gardner was considered the best player of the game, followed by Petersen and Koivunen. Lehigh Valley dominated the second period with 11 of the first 13 shots. There were only five minor penalties in the game, with Lehigh Valley failing to score on three power plays and the Penguins failing on two. The Penguins had a strong finish in the regular season and had a winning record against the Phantoms. Jonathan Gruden returned to the Penguins lineup after missing the last eight games due to injuries.
